Celebrate Hanukkah with Grammy-winning pioneers of modern klezmer, The Klezmatics, as they mark their 40th anniversary with a festive concert celebrating light, resilience, and radical joy.
The program combines music from the acclaimed new album We Were Made For These Times, beloved Hanukkah songs from Happy Joyous Hanukkah—the band’s celebrated collaboration bringing Woody Guthrie‘s long-lost Hanukkah lyrics to life—and fan favorites spanning four decades of groundbreaking music.
Blending Yiddish tradition with Black gospel, jazz, Latin rhythms, and global influences, The Klezmatics create a joyful holiday celebration that honors the past while speaking powerfully to the present.
The Klezmatics are the only Grammy Award-winning klezmer band and one of the most iconic and adventurous groups in modern Jewish music. Since emerging from New York City’s East Village in 1986, they have led a global revival of klezmer, combining centuries-old Yiddish tradition with radical contemporary sensibilities.
For nearly four decades, The Klezmatics have brought their unique sound to audiences around the world—blending klezmer with jazz, gospel, punk, classical, Latin, and Balkan styles. Their music is rooted in Eastern European Jewish tradition but also embraces a progressive worldview, tackling themes such as human rights, antifundamentalism, diaspora, and cultural resistance.
Their impact is unmistakable. The Klezmatics are the only klezmer band to win a Grammy Award (Best Contemporary World Music Album for Wonder Wheel: Lyrics by Woody Guthrie). They have released 13 acclaimed albums, topped the Billboard World Music Chart, and received multiple international honors, including the German Critics Award and the New York Jewish Music Award.
Their work transcends genre and platform. The Klezmatics have performed in over 20 countries, from Carnegie Hall to European cathedrals to rock festivals. Their music has been featured in films, television, theater, and dance, including collaborations with Tony Kushner (A Dybbuk) and Pilobolus Dance Theatre (Davenen), as well as the scores of films by Pearl Gluck. Their songs have appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion, and HBO’s Sex and the City.
The Klezmatics have collaborated with a wide range of artists, including violinist Itzhak Perlman, Israeli star Chava Alberstein, gospel singer Joshua Nelson, Arlo Guthrie, poet Allen Ginsberg, and Theodore Bikel, among others. Their Grammy-winning project with Woody Guthrie’s lyrics redefined the possibilities of Jewish-American musical storytelling.
